College Shorts 2/11

Abilene publication  debuts on Apple iPad

The Optimist, the student newspaper of Abilene Christian University, is getting big press for being the first collegiate publication to debut on Apple’s iPad. Student and faculty researchers from many departments are working on the project, which should make the Optimist iPad-ready by March. The newspaper is already available in print, online and on the iPhone.
“This is yet another opportunity for our students to make use of a cutting-edge delivery system — the third version of mobile media delivery we have pioneered,” said Cheryl Bacon, chair of Abilene Christian’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We pay close attention to the way young people consume news,” Kenneth Pybus, faculty adviser of the Optimist, said. “They tend to use all the tools at their disposal to get information. With the iPad, we foresee the potential for an explosion in news consumption.”

— The Optimist, U.S. News and World

Former Justice to give speech at Harvard

Former Supreme Court justice David H. Souter will deliver the commencement speech at Harvard University this year. Souter, who graduated from Harvard in 1961, was replaced this year by Sonia Sotomayor.
“The dedication, humility and commitment to learning with which he has pursued his calling should be an inspiration to any young man or woman contemplating a career in public service,” said University President Drew G. Faust.
Many other colleges have announced their commencement speakers. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, is speaking at the University of Delaware; journalist Gwen Ifill is speaking at St. Norbert College; actress Marcia Gay Harden is speaking at the University of Texas at Austin and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is speaking at Mills College.

— The Harvard Crimson, Inside Higher Ed

Students in garbage bags protest tuition hikes

Around 500 garbage bag-clad students protested double digit tuition hikes in professional programs at the University of Calgary last week.
Tuition rates are rising by as much 47 percent for some courses, which has left some students, like business major Jacqui Lathrop, angry.
“I am sure there is room to cut at the top, or somewhere else on campus, but it seems it’s easier to use students because they think we won’t do anything about it,” said Lathrop.
“This is supposed to be a public institution. It won’t feel public when students can’t attend because they can’t afford it,” she said.
The garbage bags the protesters wore were supposed to show the students were too poor to afford clothes, let alone higher prices in education.
The plan to increase tuition prices in medicine, law, business, education and engineering programs has not been approved, but would include a $4,000 increase in medicine courses and a $247 increase — $516 to $763 — for business.

— The Vancouver Sun